Many different types of exercise equipment are known in the art. One popular form of equipment is the exercise dumbbell, which is typically designed with one or more weights disposed at each end of a handle. Relatively more advanced dumbbell systems provide a plurality of weights in alignment with the handle and configured to be selectively connected to the handle without requiring the user to handle the weights. Examples of such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,034 to Shields; U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,463 to Shields; U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,064 to Olson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,762 to Towley, III et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,997 to Roth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,350 to Krull; U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,442 to Krull; U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,481 to Krull; U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,666 to Krull; U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,446 to Krull; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,979 to Krull. An object of the present invention is to provide methods and apparatus for supporting these sorts of dumbbell assemblies in user friendly fashion, and/or for supporting the weight plates that remain behind when the handles are lifted from the dumbbell assemblies.